Sticks and Stones

I was crying my eyes out and my colleague at the time was uttering sounds of disbelief and shock whilst he kept passing me the box of tissues. Heads up: it's that kind of a film.

The title is self-explanatory so I don't think I am giving anything away when I warn you ahead of time about that sickening scene where a young woman is stoned to death by her community, her husband and even by children who are encouraged to pick up rocks and take aim. All based upon a true story.

I have not had the opportunity to read the book that preceded the film but after looking it up it is clear that you won't come across many paperback copies in Iran: It belongs to their banned literature list to this very day. Astonishing, I know.
Even more astonishing is this little news snippet regarding the same country's recent amendment of their 'stoning law'.

Lapidation is still practiced on a global scale. It is an ancient form of torture where a slow and extremely painful death is the end result, with not one sole executioner but an entire crowd bearing the responsibility, thus making it harder to point the finger at the culprit although human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the International Committee Against Stoning are doing their darnest best to save those that have been condemned to death by stoning.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is horrific. Brutal.
And it tells the story of the murder of a young woman and the courage of another revealing the unspeakable acts of her perpetrators.

 

Defiance without Regret

I love the variety of paths that self expression paves out for each and everyone of us. Yet the beauty that I value above all when it comes to art is the underlying force of creation that can take it to another level: Perhaps not always as popular or endearing enough but the displayed layers that I am so attracted to are deeply rooted and can have significant meanings that a pretty landscape painting simply will never capture.

I have been a fan of Ai Weiwei for a while, and I promise you won't be sorry either: Please check out his work or the documentary that highlights some of his art and actions.